Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Morning Glory


"I'd like mornings better if they started later." - Anon

As anybody who knows me knows, I'm a fan of the snooze alarm. I'd say I'm a passionate snoozer. I'm not 100% sure, but I think I may be the very best (or at least most prolific) snoozer that I know. My superpower is being able to fall asleep instantly after being woken up, so I can literally snooze for hours, with an alarm going off across the room every 5 minutes for long periods of time (my record back in college was 4 hours I think). Think about that. Every 5 minutes for 4 hours, that is 48 times rising to turn off the alarm, and then sneaking back into the bed and falling straight back asleep. You gotta say, that is pretty impressive.

The only problem with this superpower is that it gets in the way of actually doing the things that I want to in life. I'm a pretty ambitious guy, and there are a few things that I'm trying to get done at the moment. But I'm also a pretty busy guy and a lot of my evening times are taken up with work, events, sports or just hanging out with some great friends. That doesn't leave all that much time for doing the bonus activities in life that I want to do. For example, this year I would love to get to the gym a couple of times a week to get fitter. I'm trying to learn Spanish. I'm keen to read more. And I want to start each day not rushing my breakfast, not rushing out the door to be in work just on time, and having time to just relax in the morning. These are all things that I could do in the morning if I could get myself out of bed at a reasonable time on a regular basis.


But it's not just me


I know I am not alone in this struggle. If you google anything about this there are countless tips and techniques suggested online (my favourite one is Steve Pavlina if you're interested in checking any of them out).

Too many times I've shared these stories with people who have laughed and shared their own experiences. It is pretty funny, but on some level it isn't funny at all. What we are effectively saying or accepting is that we are unable to decide when we wake and when we sleep. 'Rational Darren' makes the decision when going to bed that he will sleep until 7am and get up then. 'Morning Darren' overrules that decision. Laughs in the face of that decision. Morning Darren hits snooze and climbs back in to bed. In some ways it's almost like an addiction. I'm a snooze addict.

My Belief
I believe that the inability to get up in the morning is preventing people from achieving their goals in life.
Think about the number of people who are in the gym in the first few weeks of January, but then can't keep it up. Think about the number of people who say 'I really don't have time to read'. Think about the number of your work colleagues who get in either just on time or 5 - 10 minutes late. It's unlikely that they have had a restful and relaxed morning. Most likely they were rushing for the train or bus, skipping breakfast etc.

In addition there is evidence to say that early risers are slimmer, happier and healthier (it's science!). No wonder. If you have the time to exercise, eat well and start the day calmly, this has a massive impact on all three things (as opposed to rushing around with one leg in your trousers with a toothbrush in your mouth and the alarm still going off).


It doesn't have to be like this

I have worked hard at this issue over the last few years of my life, and I go through patches of being brilliant and patches of ridiculous and humiliating snooze failure. But there are ways to improve, and I want to help people to take control of their snoozing.




Morning Glory

I'm looking for 10 epic snoozers to take part in a pilot workshop that I'm running called 'Morning Glory' (possibly best name ever?).  It will cover some of the key techniques for getting out of bed in the morning, some theory and practice, and also will link you in with a network of 'snoozers' who want to wake up when they choose. By building a small network of ex-snoozers we can support each other in our efforts to break the snooze habit.

The pilot workshop will be held on Sunday 27th May from around 11am - 4pm (venue TBC).The first session will only cost about €20 per person (just to cover venue costs etc - this is a non-profit project. My only goal is to change people's lives a little bit here).

If you are interested yourself or know an epic snoozer, please e-mail me at ryandarren@gmail.com. I'm pretty sure that this is the first time that anything like this has ever been done, so it should be a bit of craic as well as lifechanging! :) Any thoughts and questions also welcome.

6 comments:

  1. I have this problem too.

    I could also do a near infinite amount of things I wanted to accomplish if "I could get myself out of bed at a reasonable time on a regular basis" ... well said by the way.

    I am 100% up for the workshop. See you there!

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  2. First follower! Top man Jamie! Who else is up for it?

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  3. I would absolutely love to go to this but i just know there's no way i'll be able to get up at that time. Do you offer an outreach wake up service by any chance? In Argentina? :-) xxxxxxxxx

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  4. You forgot to mention the effect on house mates of your snoozing habit!!! Running upstairs to switch off alarms before they go mad keeps them all fit!!!

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  5. Haha yes. That is where the market for this lies. "Get your loved one the gift of stopping snoozing" and then you won't have to put up with them snoozing any longer.

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